Dyslexia at Work: Say This, Not That

Academic studies of dyslexia in the workplace have all arrived at the same conclusion: the vast majority of adults with dyslexia choose not to disclose or ask for accommodations in the workplace. Of those who do disclose, they often disclose to some but not all of their co-workers.

The reasons are several – but include concerns that work would be taken away from them and concerns about job discrimination – whether subtle or not.

There are signs that this may be changing and that work environments vary greatly in terms of their dyslexia-friendly or dyslexia-unfriendly policies – but regardless, interviews with adults experiencing success in the workplace share how they may get the accommodations they need in the workplace without formally disclosing.

“Could you look this over? I can’t always ‘see’ if there’s a typo or misspelling – I want it to be perfect.”(Not, ‘I’m bad at proofreading.’)

“Can you read the names for me?”(Not, ‘I can’t read this.’)

“I read thoroughly, so I need more time to go through it.”(Not, ‘I’m a slow reader.’)